


The Last Time He Was Alive

by imagineuniverse



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (Movies)
Genre: Character Death, Depression, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-02
Updated: 2015-12-02
Packaged: 2018-05-04 13:18:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5335532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imagineuniverse/pseuds/imagineuniverse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He watched her as she died. He watched her as she grasped for air, before finally, she just couldn't hold it anymore, and she closed her eyes, falling into a sleep that lasted forever. And as she died, he died with her.<br/>I DO NOT OWN THE HUNGER GAMES OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. UNFORTUNATELY.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Last Time He Was Alive

**Author's Note:**

> I DO NOT OWN THE HUNGER GAMES OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. UNFORTUNATELY.  
> So basically, this is a version of the Hunger Games from Cato's point of view that I made up, and I hope you like it. Please excuse any mistakes you may found here.

"Go on, shoot. And we both go down, and you win." Cato let out a bitter laugh. "Go on. I'm dead, anyway! I always was, right? I didn't know that until now. Isn't that what they want, huh? No! I can still do this. I can still do this. One more kill. It's the only thing I know how to do. Bring pride to my district. Not that it matters."

And at that moment, everything came back at him in flashbacks. Suddenly he was eight years old again, had just begun to start his training as his career. He saw himself struggling, with his trainer yelling at him about how weak he was. He remembered practicing everyday nonstop after that until he became one of the best careers they have.

And then he was ten, meeting Clove for the first time in the training center. He remembered how she looked ever so innocent and vurnerable, and he didn't think that she would be able to make it, because from the first time he had ever laid his eyes on her, he could only thought about how she looked so beautiful and fragile and how he just wanted to protect her. He remembered trying to push her button down, trying to break her, mocking her by telling her how she would never make it, and he remembered how much she hated him back then. But then when one of the other careers told her that she had absolutely no talent and that she should just piss off, he had stood up for her. And ever since than, they had become best friends.

Which turned into lovers after they got in the arena.

Then, he was at the reaping again, and he remembered how broken his heart was when her name was called when he had planned on volunteering that year. He couldn't wait again, it was his last chance to compete in the Hunger Games, and if he didn't, all of his trainings would be gone to waste. Looking back at it right now, he wished that he had never volunteered. To hell with the trainings he had been doing for years. It wasn't worth it if it meant that he would never get to see Clove again. Ever.

Next, he saw himself in the arena, with Clove, after Marvel and Glimmer had died. Hunting together with her. Talking to her, alone, on the middle of the night. Sharing a kiss with her behind the bush the night before the feast. How he had asked her if she was going to be find, and how she had rolled her eyes and told him, "I can take care of myself. I'll be fine, Cato," but she was dead anyway. Thresh killed her.

How broken he was when he ran back to her after she had called for him only to find out that he was too late, that she couldn't be save. How he had kneeled beside her, begging her to stay with him, but it didn't work. How he had felt differently after she died.

Because after she died, he was never the same anymore.

*

_"Cato!" The moment she screamed his name, he knew something was wrong. Clove had a big pride, she would never scream for his help except something really, really, really bad happened._

_And when he replied by screaming back her name, he was surprised to hear his own voice didn't sound like his usual. Usually, he sounded confident, arrogant, and determined, whereas now, he felt—vurnerable. And hopeless._

_But then, he thought, there was still hope. If he was fast, he could still help her from whatever trouble she was in. He could still save her. So he mustered all of his powers and focused on just running and getting to Clove, in his mind repeating how if he didn't get there fast enough, Clove might be dead._

_He couldn't bear to lost her. He could never imagine living without her._

_And when he heard her scream once again, he forced both of his feet to speed up, but unfortunately, that was the limit on how fast his feet could go. It didn't stop him for trying, though. He couldn't bear the thought of losing her forever._

_By the time he got there, there was no one. The person who was there earlier—which he was certain was Eleven—was no longer there. His eyes travelled to everything around him, scanning all around him in panic, in search of Clove. And when his eyes landed on Clove's body, lying, not moving, on the ground, he knew he was too late. And he could feel the world around him falling apart._

_He knelt beside her, moving her head onto his lap. She wasn't dead yet, but she was dying, and it doesn't matter that he knew that her chance of surviving was slim to none, she wasn't dead yet, and he wasn't going to give up and leave her alone. He would stay by her side, no matter what happened. Because that was the promise they had made a long time ago when they were kids._

_"Clove," he called to her, hoping that she was still alive, and that she could still very much hear what he was saying. "Clove, please, can you hear me?"_

_It took her a moment before she managed to choke back a hoarse, weak whisper as a reply. And when she did, he felt his heart shattered even more at how broken she sounded. Clove had never been a weak one before. "Cato."_

_"I'm here, Clove." If he had managed to contain himself before, his voice croaked now. "I'm here. I'm not going to leave you. Stay with me, Clove. Stay with me."_

_"Cato," she croaked up once again._

_Clove was the one dying, and yet he felt like it was him in her position."Yes, Clove?"_

_She took a ragged breath, and he knew right away that she was struggling to breath. "I'm afraid, Cato. I'm not ready to die."_

_Cato knew that there was no way she would survive, but he kept telling both Clove and himself that she was going to make it. She wasn't going to die. That she was going to be okay. Everything was going to be okay._

_Except, they were all lies._

_Still, it was what he told her, anyway. "You're not going to die, Clove. Do you hear me? You're not going to die."_

_And they stayed there, like that, with her head laid on his lap, his hand holding hers, her grasping for air, as he told her the same thing _—the same lie _—all over again.___ ___When the time had finally come, Clove's ragged breath was finally slowing down, her eyes started to close slowly, and ignoring the fact that Cato was calling for her name and begging her not to go, she took her last breath. Her eyes were now closed, and they were never to be opened again forever._ _ _

___His world was now shattered, and he felt like he no longer had any purpose on his life. He didn't know what to do in his life right now, seeing as the only thing that kept him going was gone. She was dead. He was useless without her. And as she died, he died with her._ _ _

___And the only thing going on in his mind as he finally let go of Clove's hand and got up was about how he was going to make Thresh pay for this._ _ _

___As he wiped the tears that had finally fallen _—on the first time in years _—__ on the corner of his eyes with the back of his hand, he sinked back everything that was happening. Clove was dead, and without her, he was nothing. _ _ _

Thresh, _he thought rather angrily._ What have you done to me?

*

"Go on," Cato said again. "What's stopping you? Loverboy here? Because you simply couldn't stand watching him die, could you?" He laughed a bitter laugh. "Tell you what, I know how it feels to watch the one that I love died. And frankly, unlike you two  _star-crossed lover_ over here, no one cares. Because I'm just a killing machine to them. I was heartless to them. To them, I'm not capable of loving."

Girl On Fire didn't say anything, instead watching him closely, studying his every move. He could feel it by the way her eyes travelled all around her, and he couldn't careless—he wasn't planning on doing anything.

"I watched her die in front of me. I watched her as she died, feeling hopeless, knowing that there was nothing I could do to help her. Do you have any idea how it felt?" He choked out another laugh. "Of course you don't. You're not the one to watch the one you love die. Are you two even _truly_ in love with each other? 'Cause I'd bet you don't. They're all just strategies for you. You're only doing it to earn sympathy from the audiences. Well, you got them now, and then what? What are you going to do about it?"

A flash of Clove's face appeared again in his mind, and he knew he'd had enough. He couldn't bear it anymore.

"Has it ever occured to you, Twelve, that you might not be the only star-crossed lover here?" He shook his head. "It's just, of course—I'm the one with tragic ending, and you're the one with happier ending."

When Cato saw that Girl On Fire had prepared to shoot him, taking a clear aim at him, he only smirked. "Do it. I'm not destined to live any longer, anyway. I've lost my reason to survive, while  _you_ , you still have your Loverboy. And even if your Loverboy comes down with me and die, you still have your family who need you. So why not kill me now?"

Cato realized what Loverboy was doing a few seconds after he drew the 'X' mark on the back of his hand, and unfortunately, a second too late from Girl On Fire. And by the time he realized it, an arrow was already flung out right at his hand, and before he knew it, he was jerking his hands back immediately, and Loverboy used this to his advantage, elbowing him and pushing him off of the Cornucopia.

As he fell off right at the mutts, who charged at him immediately, he knew that he had no chance of surviving. And as he was torned apart, he gave up himself, thinking that he had nothing else to lose. After all, he was already dead. Because the moment when Clove died, was the last time he was alive.


End file.
